Trump administration tells states to stop paying full Snap benefits
The Trump administration is ordering U.S. states to stop providing full food aid to low-income American families, saying they are “not allowed.”
A memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), says states can only provide 65% of benefits after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to withhold some funding pending further legal hearings.
More than 42 million Americans who rely on food assistance began receiving only partial benefits this month due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
Some states used their own emergency coffers to supplement recipients’ benefits.
“States should immediately reverse any action taken to provide full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the USDA said in its Saturday memo.
It’s the administration’s latest move in the battle over funding for Snap, also known as food stamps, as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history drags on.
The Snap program is used by around one in eight Americans and costs almost $9 billion (£6.9 billion) a month.
The legal saga was sparked after the USDA announced that benefits would be cut off in November due to a lack of funding related to the shutdown.
The White House appealed to the nation’s highest court after a lower court ruled that Snap benefits must be paid in full to recipients.
On Friday, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing the Trump administration to temporarily withhold $4 billion (£3.04 billion) in funding for the benefits.
